Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HYDROPOWER-EUROPE (HYDROPOWER-EUROPE)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-05-01 do 2022-02-28
Global warming is the biggest known threat for the 21st century. The European Union is the first continent to fight against global warming by announcing the European Green Deal, courageously showing the way for other countries and continents. The EU aims to be the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. To fulfil this objective, PV and wind power will replace oil and coal for electricity generation. But PV and wind are very volatile energies. For integrating this huge amount of variable renewable electricity into the grid, Europe must also lead the development and integration of the high storage and flexibility capacity of hydropower into the new energy system, efficiently and cost-effectively. To provide an effective contribution to this unprecedented new European Green Deal in a sustainable, efficient and cost-effective manner, the hydropower sector needs to develop strongly through technical and environmental innovations.
HYDROPOWER EUROPE was supported by the EC under Horizon Europe programme LC-SC3-CC-4-2018 with the goals of developing a Forum through which an extensive programme of consultation could be undertaken to support the development of an industry Research and Innovation Agenda and Strategic Industry Roadmap which would facilitate launching a series of innovations in the hydropower sector, targeting an energy system with high flexibility and renewable share. The vision: “Hydropower as a catalyst for the energy transition”.
The next generations deserve a healthy planet. Hydropower is a renewable, low carbon, cost effective, storable and very flexible form of energy. We believe that hydropower will be an important catalyst for integrating wind and PV by:
• Increasing hydropower production through the implementation of new environmental friendly, multipurpose hydropower schemes and by using hidden potential in existing infrastructures.
• Increasing the flexibility of generation from existing hydropower plants by adaptation and optimization of infrastructure and equipment combined with innovative solutions for the mitigation of environmental impacts.
• Increasing storage by the heightening of existing dams and the construction of new reservoirs, which have to ensure not only flexible energy supply, but which also support food and water supply and thus contribute to the Water-Energy-Food NEXUS and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
• Strengthening the contribution of flexibility from pumped-storage power plants by developing and building innovative arrangements in combination with existing water infrastructure.
HYDROPOWER EUROPE was supported by the EC under Horizon Europe programme LC-SC3-CC-4-2018 with the goals of developing a Forum through which an extensive programme of consultation could be undertaken to support the development of an industry Research and Innovation Agenda and Strategic Industry Roadmap which would facilitate launching a series of innovations in the hydropower sector, targeting an energy system with high flexibility and renewable share. The vision: “Hydropower as a catalyst for the energy transition”.
The next generations deserve a healthy planet. Hydropower is a renewable, low carbon, cost effective, storable and very flexible form of energy. We believe that hydropower will be an important catalyst for integrating wind and PV by:
• Increasing hydropower production through the implementation of new environmental friendly, multipurpose hydropower schemes and by using hidden potential in existing infrastructures.
• Increasing the flexibility of generation from existing hydropower plants by adaptation and optimization of infrastructure and equipment combined with innovative solutions for the mitigation of environmental impacts.
• Increasing storage by the heightening of existing dams and the construction of new reservoirs, which have to ensure not only flexible energy supply, but which also support food and water supply and thus contribute to the Water-Energy-Food NEXUS and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
• Strengthening the contribution of flexibility from pumped-storage power plants by developing and building innovative arrangements in combination with existing water infrastructure.
Through the HYDROPOWER EUROPE project:
• A state of the art report on Hydropower Technologies has been produced
• The Hydropower Europe Forum has been launched, which includes a global network covering the whole sector of Hydropower, now comprising over 635 participants
• An extensive programme of consultation has been undertaken, comprising workshops, regional workshops and many online events to support the development and prioritisation of recommendations for the Industry
• A complex systems analysis of the European hydropower sector has been undertaken allowing priorities to be compared against findings from the wide consultation programme
• An industry Research and Innovation Agenda, along with a Strategic Industry Roadmap have been produced, condensing the issues, priorities and recommendations gathered through the consultation programme. Briefer executive summary brochures are also available
• A series of roundtable, discussion and dissemination events - including consultation with NGOs - has been implemented to better understand issues and priorities and to help raise awareness of how hydropower in Europe can support the clean energy transition
• The steps needed for a sustainable voice for hydropower in Europe, including a focus on facilitating R&I priorities, have been considered and an implementation plan proposed
• A state of the art report on Hydropower Technologies has been produced
• The Hydropower Europe Forum has been launched, which includes a global network covering the whole sector of Hydropower, now comprising over 635 participants
• An extensive programme of consultation has been undertaken, comprising workshops, regional workshops and many online events to support the development and prioritisation of recommendations for the Industry
• A complex systems analysis of the European hydropower sector has been undertaken allowing priorities to be compared against findings from the wide consultation programme
• An industry Research and Innovation Agenda, along with a Strategic Industry Roadmap have been produced, condensing the issues, priorities and recommendations gathered through the consultation programme. Briefer executive summary brochures are also available
• A series of roundtable, discussion and dissemination events - including consultation with NGOs - has been implemented to better understand issues and priorities and to help raise awareness of how hydropower in Europe can support the clean energy transition
• The steps needed for a sustainable voice for hydropower in Europe, including a focus on facilitating R&I priorities, have been considered and an implementation plan proposed
Hydropower in Europe is facing a great number of challenges. To tackle these environmental, societal, technological and market challenges, the hydropower sector needs to find novel approaches to future development in accordance with environmental and social demand. So where is hydropower, the world's largest renewable energy source heading in the foreseeable future? Predictions show that hydropower will hold the lead among other renewable energy sources as the world's largest source of renewable electricity generation. Climate change will play a decisive role in the development of hydropower energy due to its threat to the entire hydrological cycle. Moreover, the hydropower sector will have to show its worth, in dealing with continuous opposition from critics voicing concerns about the environmental and social damage caused by hydropower projects, as is also the case for other renewable energy sources (onshore and partly offshore wind, distribution/transmission grid projects).
The Research and Innovation Agenda (RIA) and the Strategic Industry Roadmap (SIR) are key contributions to the growing debate on the net zero economy and the European Green Deal under the challenge of a safe and independent energy supply. They will be highly relevant for discussions on finding the best solutions to provide the new energy system with flexibility. They will help European regulators, policymakers, civil society, NGOs, technology developers, planners, utilities and system operators to discuss together and to take balanced decisions on further hydropower development to enable the new energy system to benefit fully from the storage and flexibility potential of this valuable resource. Hydropower technology is established, widely deployed and highly efficient. Hydropower provides ancillary and important back-up services which help stabilise the grid for intermittent and non-dispatchable renewable resources such as wind or solar power. Hydropower is born to be a catalyst for the energy transition.
Hydropower has all the characteristics to be a catalyst for the energy transition with the challenge of safe and independent supply in Europe. The outcomes of the HYDROPOWER EUROPE Forum show the pathway to the vision for hydropower in Europe defined through wide consultation following four directions:
• Increasing hydropower production through the implementation of new environmental friendly, multipurpose hydropower schemes and by using hidden potential in existing infrastructures
• Increasing the flexibility of generation from existing hydropower plants by adaptation and optimization of infrastructure and equipment combined with innovative solutions for the mitigation of environmental impacts
• Increasing storage by the heightening of existing dams and the construction of new reservoirs, which have to ensure not only flexible energy supply, but which also support food and water supply and thus contribute to the WEF NEXUS and achievement of the SDGs of the United Nations
• Strengthening the contribution of flexibility from pumped-storage power plants by developing and building innovative arrangements in combination with existing water infrastructure.
This vision underlined by the Research and Innovation Agenda (RIA) and the Strategic Industry Roadmap (SIR), can also be an inspiring example for hydropower development worldwide which is of high importance to the hydropower sector in Europe which is already playing a major role in the worldwide market today.
The Research and Innovation Agenda (RIA) and the Strategic Industry Roadmap (SIR) are key contributions to the growing debate on the net zero economy and the European Green Deal under the challenge of a safe and independent energy supply. They will be highly relevant for discussions on finding the best solutions to provide the new energy system with flexibility. They will help European regulators, policymakers, civil society, NGOs, technology developers, planners, utilities and system operators to discuss together and to take balanced decisions on further hydropower development to enable the new energy system to benefit fully from the storage and flexibility potential of this valuable resource. Hydropower technology is established, widely deployed and highly efficient. Hydropower provides ancillary and important back-up services which help stabilise the grid for intermittent and non-dispatchable renewable resources such as wind or solar power. Hydropower is born to be a catalyst for the energy transition.
Hydropower has all the characteristics to be a catalyst for the energy transition with the challenge of safe and independent supply in Europe. The outcomes of the HYDROPOWER EUROPE Forum show the pathway to the vision for hydropower in Europe defined through wide consultation following four directions:
• Increasing hydropower production through the implementation of new environmental friendly, multipurpose hydropower schemes and by using hidden potential in existing infrastructures
• Increasing the flexibility of generation from existing hydropower plants by adaptation and optimization of infrastructure and equipment combined with innovative solutions for the mitigation of environmental impacts
• Increasing storage by the heightening of existing dams and the construction of new reservoirs, which have to ensure not only flexible energy supply, but which also support food and water supply and thus contribute to the WEF NEXUS and achievement of the SDGs of the United Nations
• Strengthening the contribution of flexibility from pumped-storage power plants by developing and building innovative arrangements in combination with existing water infrastructure.
This vision underlined by the Research and Innovation Agenda (RIA) and the Strategic Industry Roadmap (SIR), can also be an inspiring example for hydropower development worldwide which is of high importance to the hydropower sector in Europe which is already playing a major role in the worldwide market today.